Roman Reigns reportedly expected to miss a major show?

Roman Reigns has been working a much lighter schedule since he became the Undisputed Universal Champion at WrestleMania 38. Reports have now come out that suggest he will also miss Extreme Rules 2022 in October.

Extreme Rules was first introduced as a pay-per-view in 2009. The concept was simple: every match would involve an extreme stipulation. However, over the years, WWE has reduced the number of extreme stipulations per match. Last year, WWE had only one Extreme Rules match between Finn Balor and The Tribal Chief for the Universal Championship.

According to WWE journalist Louis Dangoor, this year's premium live event might not have the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion on the card.

"Roman Reigns is not expected to be at Extreme Rules on October 8. He missed Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank in June and July, but will be at SummerSlam later this month and likely Clash at the Castle in September," Dangoor wrote in his tweet.

The poster for the upcoming event in October was recently released, notably missing major stars like Reigns, The Usos, Bianca Belair, and Liv Morgan. Interestingly, Rhea Ripley was featured, indicating her return after her injury.

Currently, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Riddle, and Rhea Ripley are advertised for the event.

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Roman Reigns returns to Friday Night SmackDown

Reigns has been the number one draft pick for SmackDown since its move to FOX. Friday Nights have become the resting ground for The Tribal Chief in the past few years.

The longest-reigning Universal Champion dominated the brand after defeating The Fiend and Braun Strowman for the title. However, since defeating Brock Lesnar and unifying the title, Reigns' presence has been scarce on the blue brand. In his last appearance, he defeated Riddle to retain his championship.

After Reigns defeated Riddle, Lesnar returned to WWE and attacked the Bloodline. The clash between Reigns and Lesnar is set to take place at SummerSlam in a Last Man Standing match.

The Tribal Chief will return to Friday Night SmackDown to address his challenger ahead of the Biggest Party Of The Summer. It will be interesting to see how Reigns reacts to Lesnar's ambush from two weeks ago.